Saved from demolition

Day three is dedicated to our friend Catherine, from Compiègne, France, whose visit to Whitby this summer helped us re-live our own first encounters with this delightful seaside town 13 years ago.

It is difficult to believe today that this part of Blackburn's Yard was once scheduled for reconstruction, for which read demolition. A change of administration saved this lovely terrace which is now Grade II listed. The award-winning community garden shown here was once the site of other cottages which were beyond repair.

Blackburn's Yard serves as a quiet, though steep, alternative route to and from St. Mary's church and the abbey; Church Street and the 199 steps can be shoulder to shoulder in high season, which is why locals do their shopping early in the morning. The yard route leads to a terrace, giving good views over the town, and then to the steep cobbled path which will appear in tomorrow's entry.

Just out of view in this picture is the working pottery itself; there is usually a pretty display of its wares hanging on the walls and spread over the pavement, providing half the charm of the yard. For more (and better) pictures of the yard, go to:

Pottery Cottage

but be warned, it is a commercial site and you might be tempted to abandon Tenerife in favour of Whitby!

Wash House Pottery was created by Laureen Shaw in 1982 and features on the Brigantia website.

Wash House Pottery

Time and time

I'm dedicating this second entry to last year's 7F (Mrs. Sharp's tutor-group) at Cædmon School, Whitby; they made a six-week stint on supply such fun - some of the time!

Two visions of time: minutes and hours represented by Bagshawe's clock on Flowergate; eternity by the abbey ruins on the east cliff. The fact that the 13th century Benedictine abbey is a ruin does not detract from the long-term vision of its builders, though one might wonder whether that vision was as pure as St. Hilda's in the 7th.

She was a remarkably energetic woman, noted for her wisdom and humility. Her recognition and encouragement of Cædmon's poetic gift bear witness to her egalitarian Christian spirit. That's Cædmon on the left of the page, as represented on the cross at the top of the 199 steps. There is also a transcription of his famous Hymn of Creation, of which there are many translations available on the web.

We found the visitor centre at the abbey much improved on our return to Whitby, and well worth the climb. It is accessible by car, of course. On a completely different note, Woolworths is no more! The store was situated just down the hill from Bagshawe's; it is now an outdoor clothing shop.

Well, time presses …

Beach huts and pier

Not a very seasonal photograph, but people will soon be booking their holidays. This is Whitby, North Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England, twinned with Whitby, Ontario, Canada. I hope we attract some transatlantic readers! We didn't make it to Canadian Whitby, or Pickering, or Scarborough while we were in Toronto some years ago; it was too short a stay.

Among the town's famous personalities are Hilda, Caedmon, Captains Cook and Scoresby and Bram Stoker's Dracula of which more at a later date. Lewis Carroll also spent some time here, and, of course, many Heartbeat scenes were filmed in the town. Nearby Goathland, or Adensfield, if you're a fan, is also the location for Harry Potter's Hogsmeade Station.

These huts are dismantled at the end of each season and stored in a tunnel leading to the West Cliff lift shaft. About three years ago they were smashed by extremely high seas shortly after reassembly. If anyone reading can give me a link to a photograph, I'll post it another day. Locals, as well as visitors, hire these huts, sometimes for the entire season.

So, welcome to Day One of WhitbyDailyPhoto, inspired by Eric Tenin's ParisDailyPhoto which I've had on my favourites list for some years.